Weatherman pronounces 'Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrob-wllllantysiliogogogoch' flawlessly on live TV
Welsh village's 58-letter name is the longest word on any map in Europe
Without Googling it, would you have even the slightest idea of how to pronounce the name of this Welsh village?
"Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch" in northern Wales was one the U.K.'s warmest locations on Tuesday at 21 C.
Great news for the community's just over 3,000 residents — not so much for weather presenters tasked with reporting the news.
While the name of this particular village is sometimes shortened to Llanfairpwllgwyngyll or even Llanfairpwll, Britain's Channel 4 News decided to use the full, 58-letter-long spelling for its Tuesday evening weather forecast.
"Today we had a big contrast in temperature across the U.K.," reported meteorologist Liam Dutton during the program. "Just 12 degrees on the coast of parts of Eastern England with cloudy skies..."
His hand started gliding ominously across the map towards the almost ridiculously long-looking name of the warmer locale as he described sunny conditions in northwest Wales.
And then he went for it — and absolutely nailed the pronounciation of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.
Dutton, who left the BBC Weather Centre in 2011 to become Channel 4's first-ever dedicated meteorologist, has more than a decade of weather forecasting experience, as well as a Geography degree.
But what really helped him nail the line (in one take, for the record) is the fact that he was born in the Welsh city of Cardiff and educated at the University of Wales.
"It is definitely the most challenging place name in the UK to pronounce," he told Wales Online Wednesday morning in response to how much attention his weather hit was getting. "The only other place names that tend to catch me out are places that are said nothing like they are written. But you soon learn from your mistakes quickly, when people let you know you've said it wrong!"
Conversely, they appear to shower you with praise when you get it right.
<a href="https://twitter.com/liamdutton">@liamdutton</a> this is what I thought when I saw you. Congrats <a href="http://t.co/9Mj1OM6iKK">pic.twitter.com/9Mj1OM6iKK</a>
—@roquebour<a href="https://twitter.com/liamdutton">@liamdutton</a> YOU SIR ARE A GENIUS TAKE A BOW
—@RobinTheBank<a href="https://twitter.com/liamdutton">@liamdutton</a> doing us Welsh proud! I know so many who can't say it!
—@Clairew40419234Comments on a video clip of Dutton's deft delivery, posted to the Channel 4 News Facebook page, lend credence to his claim that Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch may in fact be the U.K.'s hardest name to pronounce.
"Da Iawn wir Liam Dutton.... well done to you sir, perfect!" wrote one woman. "I was born and bred in north Wales and speak fluent Welsh, I couldn't have said it better myself."
"I got an A+ In Welsh and I can't even say that," wrote another. "Hats off to him."
YouTube's closed captioning service didn't fare quite so well, as Business Insider pointed out:
Dutton isn't the only person who made headlines this year for pronouncing the seemingly-impossible name.
Actress Naomi Watts did a similarly bang-up job in March when she told Jimmy Kimmel about the town, where she once lived for three years with her grandparents.
According to David Barnes' 2005 book The Companion Guide to Wales, the village was originally named Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll. It was renamed in the 19th century in order to earn a Guinness World record for the longest railway station name in the U.K. — a title it still holds today.
If you'd like to learn to pronounce Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch yourself, a website dedicated to the Welsh locale has a guide for that purpose.
Good luck remembering the URL.